In the paper industry a wide web of paper is produced and wound onto rolls at a high rate of speed (500-4000 feet per minute). Intermittently, it is necessary to transfer the web to a new roll without interrupting the travel of the web. This has been done by using a "turn-up" tape such as that described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,461,246; 3,599,888; 3,765,615; 4,659,029; and 4,783,018. In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,029 there is a disclosure of a cutting tape made of a plurality of parallel strands of repulpable paper, and this tape has been found to be very useful in the above process for cutting the web and transferring the web to a new roll. Among the operations involved in the cutting and transferring is the use of a track to guide the tape across the wide expanse of the travelling web of paper. My U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,783,018 and 5,046,675 disclose improvements in track guides, but now there are further improvements to such tracks that are available to the public.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved track assembly for guiding a cutting tape across a web of paper to be cut. It is another object of this invention to provide a track with longer life and more versatility in both guiding the tape and in releasing it for its cutting operation. Still other objects will be apparent from the more detailed description which follows.